IEA calls for clear and consistent policy support for nuclear energy

Press Release Issue Date: 6 June 2017

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has called for nuclear energy to receive “clear and consistent policy support for existing and new capacity, including clean energy incentive schemes for development of nuclear alongside other clean forms of energy.”

The IEA made its recommendation in its publication Energy Technology Perspectives 2017, which was published today. The report examines how the energy sector can be transformed to supply the world’s population with clean energy and avoid dangerous levels of climate change.

The IEA’s report says that increased nuclear capacity deployment could meet those objectives and “fulfil the recognised potential of nuclear energy to contribute significantly to global decarbonisation.”

The IEA’s report projects nuclear energy growing to nearly triple its current capacity by 2060. The global nuclear industry’s Harmony goal goes beyond that, setting out how nuclear energy can provide 25% of the world’s electricity by 2050 to help meet our future energy challenge. This would require the construction of 1000 GWe of new nuclear capacity.

Agneta Rising said, “The IEA’s more ambitious scenario requires deployment of largely untested technologies, such as carbon capture and storage, on a massively expanded scale. Nuclear energy has a proven track record in supplying clean energy and can be expanded quickly. The Harmony goal is a practical and achievable goal that would help ensure the IEA’s emission reduction goals are met.”

The report also says that “licensing and siting processes that have clear requirements and that do not require significant capital expenditure prior to receiving a final approval or decision” are needed to reduce investment risk.